“It took approximately 6 months for people in the company outside of himself to begin seeing the benefits of the system. As I used Preactor every day I immediately knew the difference it was making but the reality was that people were so cynical due to the inefficiency of the old system , they would blame Preactor for anything that went wrong – even when it was abundantly clear it had nothing to do with Preactor. However over this time, Preactor consistently kept delivering reliable and accurate plans which made it possible to identify the true nature of where many of our problems were actually coming from.”

Preactor International, the world’s leading specialist planning and scheduling Software Company, announces 10 years of successful use by Boucledor in its main Swiss production site in Meyrin, near Geneva. With almost half a century’s experience of serving the prestigious Swiss watch market, Boucledor has established itself a leading manufacturer of extremely high quality standard and bespoke components.

With 100 dedicated workers, the ISO 9001:2000 certified company works primarily with precious and noble metals and uses skills honed over decades to create components of precision and beauty that are in turn used in some of the world’s most exquisite and expensive watches. Such is the degree of customisation and attention to detail that Boucledor even makes its own tools to allow it to consistently meet the requirements of its very demanding and discerning customers.

Boucledor has always recognised the value of manufacturing IT and implemented Sage 500 Enterprise Resource Planning many years ago. However in 2000 the company identified the limitations of its ERP system when it came to providing accurate delivery dates and managing capacity constraints. Boucledor therefore made the strategic decision to invest in Preactor, a specialist production planning and scheduling system, to complement its’ existing ERP system. Preactor was implemented and remains supported by respected Preactor partner, RMS.

Working with Sage, Preactor enables Boucledor to manage its production constraints while providing much greater visibility across the company’s entire supply chain.

“Preactor is central to our organisation” declares Mathieu Loche, Head of Planning at Boucledor. He continues, “We have important constraints to manage such as optimising the regulating machines, grouping campaigns or series, the traditional aspects of certain operations such as polishing, and many others. It is impossible for us to manage these elements manually or with a spreadsheet. Preactor also generates all the proposed delivery dates and as a tool is powerful, reliable and easy to use. It is very important for us to be able to provide reliable delivery dates to our customers as our reputation and credibility are essential assets in keeping us as market leaders.”

Sacha Dunn is Head of IT Services at Boucledor. “”Thanks to the bi-directional interface between Preactor and Sage, orders are entered in Sage and then sent to Preactor which optimised our schedules according to our finite capacity constraints. The plan is typically updated twice a week and while the Boucledor uses a planning horizon of approximately 2 months, Preactor can extend this significantly according to our needs and demands.”

He continues, “Preactor also generates material requirements by calculating the type and number of components necessary for a given order. The purchase department has real time access to this information thanks to the provision of viewers.” Loche comments on the significance of this. “It is necessary to coordinate and have good communication between the various links in the supply chain if we are to achieve the desired results.”

Warren Roberts, Managing Director of RMS comments on the evolution of the Preactor system at Boucledor. “The company’s commitment to using only the best of everything extends beyond its use of precious materials and unique craftsmanship to its early adoption of the best manufacturing IT systems available. We have therefore worked continually with Boucledor to refine and evolve Preactor to ensure it consistently meets the company’s changing needs.”

Hence Loche concludes, “We are continually improving our use of Preactor and are currently investigating how Preactor can help us more efficiently manage our maintenance requirements, our subcontracted operations, and our human resource management by taking into account staff availability.”